b'INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTFood Isnt Our Only Challenge with a Future FamineFAMINE MAKES USthink of examples like theproduction, so without another form readily accessible drought on the horn of Africa in 2011 where 9.5 mil- from nature our civilization would collapse.lion people were affected, and an estimated 250,000Potassium or Potash, as it is well known in the ferti-people died. lizer world, is also mined from rock so is not renewable. A book that really resonates with this topic is calledIt reached its peak harvest in the 1970s, and it will also The Coming Famine, by Julian Crib. In it, Crib high- inevitably run out.lights food wont be our only issue when it comes toThe next greatest challenge is the loss of agri-feeding a population of 9.7 billion by 2050. cultural land due to degradation or other uses.Due to drought, climate may have a part in causingWorldwide, around three million hectares of agricul-a famine, but there are other factors that will limit ourtural land are lost each year because the soil degrades ANTHONY LEDDINability to maintain crop yields. These will have detrimen- and becomes unusable due to erosion. An additional Inspired aftertal effects on the stability of life as we know it currently. four million hectares are lost each year when agricul-reading TheOf all these factors, water would be the most criti- tural land is converted due to urbanization. This leads Coming Famine,cal. We are already seeing in locations, such as Saudito greater clearing of forests for more agricultural area this AustralianArabia, where irrigation of certain crops has beenwhich then speeds up the process of climate change. plant breeder setterminated due to the decrease in underground waterSome radical ideas suggest that we can farm on the out to make areserves that have taken millions of years to accumu- poles once the ice all melts by dredging the sea for all difference. Plantlate. In Australia, many states are currently in droughtthe topsoil that has been washed away due to erosion Breeders Withoutand irrigation water has been decreased dramatically.and placing it there. Lets hope we dont have to get to Borders encouragesWill this be a common occurrence in the future? Willthis stage.plant breeders andwe have to rethink our production systems without the students to volunteeradded insurance of irrigation? This will require a major their time for inter- shift in the species that we use to be more suited grow-national breedinging in the natural rainfall season. A potential solution isHaving diversity is like having climate projects. to develop a cheap way of desalinizing seawater, as weinsurance. If one species fails, then another may are going to have plenty of seawater as our seas rise and the polar caps melt. succeed. We may be able to solve the water shortage, but that then leads to the next shortage: nutrients.The nutrient of the greatest need is nitrogen. We manufacture most of the nitrogen we use for puttingHowever, its not all doom and gloom. By diversify-on crops through Haber-Bosch process. This uses fossiling the plants that we grow we may be able to increase fuels, and, as we know, these are running out. Legumesgrowth. Almost 72% of the worlds calories come from may be our savior in this process with their ability to fixfour major crops: rice, wheat, corn and soybean. A nitrogen, but will this be enough to maintain or increaserisky gamble of roulette to put all your bets on four crop yields? Remember, we need to increase our cur- numbers. rent production by 70% on current levels to feed theHaving diversity is like having climate insurance. If worlds predicted population of 9.7 billion by 2050. one species fails, then another may succeed. In early Phosphorus is the next greatest nutrient requiredbreeding, a practice was to grow mixes of varieties by plants. The worlds supply of rock phosphate, whichrather than one. This diversity would increase the most of our phosphate fertilizers are manufacturedchance of getting a yield in variable climates. Striving from, is to reach its peak production by 2030 and thenfor perfection by having uniform crops may lead to be fully depleted in 50 years. Phosphorus is essentialour future downfall if we dont start adapting to the for many plant functions such as cell division and seedchanges of climate that we are being exposed to. SW50/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2020'